SGMA Best Management Practices Framework

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 22nd, 2017

Chapter 7 of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), in Water Code Section 10729(d), states that, “By January 1, 2017, the department shall publish on its in

Chapter 7 of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), in Water Code Section 10729(d), states that, “By January 1, 2017, the department shall publish on its internet Web site best management practices for the sustainable management of groundwater.” Prior to the completion of a best management practices (BMPs) document, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) was required to adopt regulations for evaluating groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs), the implementation of GSPs, and coordination agreements by June 1, 2016 (GSP Regulations), and Alternatives.

SGMA’s First Groundwater Market: An Early Case Study from Fox Canyon

Nature Conservancy | May 1st, 2019

In 2014, amid California’s most recent drought, the state passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). This new law regulates groundwater at scale for th

In 2014, amid California’s most recent drought, the state passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). This new law regulates groundwater at scale for the first time, requiring the state’s largest source of stored water to be managed for long-term resilience. SGMA delegates the responsibility of achieving sustainable groundwater management by 2040 to local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs). GSAs must achieve sustainability for their groundwater basins by developing and implementing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). Balancing groundwater basins to achieve sustainability will require increasing water supply to the basin and/or decreasing water demand. The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency (FCGMA), in western Ventura County, is the first GSA to pursue a groundwater market as a tool to decrease water demand when implementing its GSP. This white paper outlines FCGMA’s experience—the steps taken and lessons learned—in developing the first groundwater market to emerge under SGMA. It is a combined effort of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), California Lutheran University’s (CLU’s) Center for Economic Research and Forecasting (CERF) and FCGMA, with the support of local growers and the Farm Bureau of Ventura County (Farm Bureau). This document is meant to serve as a resource for GSAs and other public agencies, organizations, practitioners and stakeholders involved in water resource management and contemplating the creation of groundwater markets to meet SGMA’s sustainability mandate. This report focuses on the design and testing of the Fox Canyon groundwater market; a companion report will likely follow to evaluate the performance and share additional lessons learned once the market has launched.

Sharing Groundwater: A Robust Framework and Implementation Roadmap for Sustainable Groundwater Management in California

Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability (Duke University) | January 1st, 2017

This working paper offers a framework and roadmap for development of a robust groundwater-sharing system consistent with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management

This working paper offers a framework and roadmap for development of a robust groundwater-sharing system consistent with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires communities in priority areas to prepare groundwater sustainability plans. The proposed system draws on global experience. Robustness is its signature feature. Opportunities are maximized by a suite of robust local governance, allocation, and administrative arrangements. Additionally, the proposed system incentivizes innovation, stimulates investment, and facilitates low-cost adjustment to changes in groundwater demand. Among the dynamic components underlying this sharing system are a share register that records ownership and transfers of ownership in the basin’s available shares. These unit shares are fungible; each represents a proportional stake in access to the basin’s groundwater resources. Volumetric allocations are made in proportion to the number of shares held during determined periods throughout the water year. These allocations are recorded in bank-like water accounts, affording account holders an efficient means to manage their resource but also ensuring that they cannot use more than is available. Unused water can be saved for later use. At the start of the transition to the new system, users are given an allocation buffer so that they have flexibility and time to adjust. Those who want to can make quick non-contestable trades at low cost.

Sharing the Cost: Accelerating Water Resilience through Infrastructure Finance in California

Milken Institute | December 12th, 2022

Sharpening of cold-season storms over the western United States

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | January 19th, 2023

Winter storms are responsible for billion-dollar economic losses in the western United States. Because storm structures are not well resolved by global climate models, it

Winter storms are responsible for billion-dollar economic losses in the western United States. Because storm structures are not well resolved by global climate models, it is not well established how single events and their structures change with warming. Here we use regional storm-resolving simulations to investigate climate change impact on western US winter storms. Under a high-emissions scenario, precipitation volume from the top 20% of winter storms is projected to increase by up to 40% across the region by mid-century. The average increase in precipitation volume (31%) is contributed by 22% from increasing area coverage and 19% from increasing storm intensity, while a robust storm sharpening with larger increase in storm centre precipitation compared with increase in storm area reduces precipitation volume by 10%. Ignoring storm sharpening could result in overestimation of the changes in design storms currently used in infrastructure planning in the region.

Shasta Dam Fish Passage Evaluation – Pilot Implementation Plan – U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | September 1st, 2015

Shasta Lake Water Resources Investigation

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | July 1st, 2015

The purpose of this Shasta Lake Water Resources Investigation (SLWRI) Feasibility Report is to document the U.S. Department of Interior (Interior), Bureau of Reclamation

The purpose of this Shasta Lake Water Resources Investigation (SLWRI) Feasibility Report is to document the U.S. Department of Interior (Interior), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and cooperating agencies’ evaluation of the potential enlargement of Shasta Dam and Reservoir to (1) improve anadromous fish survival in the upper Sacramento River, (2) increase water supply reliability in the Central Valley of California, and (3) address related water resource problems, needs, and opportunities. This Final Feasibility Report presents the results of planning, engineering, environmental, social, economic, and financial studies and potential benefits and effects of alternative plans, and is a companion document to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), published under separate cover. This Final Feasibility Report, along with the Final EIS, will be used by the U.S. Congress to determine the type and extent of Federal interest in enlarging Shasta Dam and Reservoir. The SLWRI is a feasibility study that was authorized by Congress in 1980 in Public Law 96-375 and is being conducted by Reclamation, in coordination with cooperating agencies, other resource agencies, stakeholders, and the public. The SLWRI is being conducted consistent with the 1983 U.S. Water Resources Council Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies (P&G), Reclamation directives and standards, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and other pertinent Federal, State of California (State), and local laws and policies. The SLWRI is one of five surface water storage studies recommended in the July 2000 CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Report (PEIS/R) and August 2000 Programmatic Record of Decision (ROD). Preliminary studies in support of the CALFED PEIS/R considered more than 50 surface water storage sites throughout California and recommended more detailed study of the five sites identified in the CALFED Programmatic ROD. The Final EIS, accompanying this Final Feasibility Report, tiers to the CALFED PEIS/R.

Shasta Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Siskiyou County Flood Control and Water Conservation District | January 28th, 2022

SGMA was established to provide local and regional agencies the authority to sustainably manage groundwater resources through the development and implementation of GSPs

SGMA was established to provide local and regional agencies the authority to sustainably manage groundwater resources through the development and implementation of GSPs for high and medium priority subbasins (e.g., Shasta Valley). In accordance with SGMA, this GSP was developed and will be implemented by the GSA representing the Basin: the Siskiyou County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. To deal with file size, the Shasta Valley GSP has been divided into three files: Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3 Plan approved by DWR

Shifting Baselines in a California Oak Savanna: Nineteenth Century Data to Inform Restoration Scenarios

Restoration Ecology, Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) | January 6th, 2011

For centuries humans have reduced and transformed Mediterranean‐climate oak woodland and savanna ecosystems, making it difficult to establish credible baselines for eco

For centuries humans have reduced and transformed Mediterranean‐climate oak woodland and savanna ecosystems, making it difficult to establish credible baselines for ecosystem structure and composition that can guide ecological restoration efforts. We combined historical data sources, with particular attention to mid‐1800s General Land Office witness tree records and maps and twentieth century air photos, to reconstruct 150 years of decline in extent and stand density of Valley oak (Quercus lobata Neé) woodlands and savannas in the Santa Clara Valley of central coastal California. Nineteenth century Valley oak woodlands here were far more extensive and densely stocked than early twentieth century air photos would suggest, although reconstructed basal areas (7.5 m2/ha) and densities (48.9 trees/ha) were not outside the modern range reported for this ecosystem type. Tree densities and size distribution varied across the landscape in relation to soil and topography, and trees in open savannas were systematically larger than those in denser woodlands. For the largest woodland stand, we estimated a 99% decline in population from the mid‐1800s to the 1930s. Although most of the study area is now intensely developed, Valley oaks could be reintroduced in urban and residential areas as well as in surrounding rangelands at densities comparable to the native oak woodlands and savannas, thereby restoring aspects of ecologically and culturally significant ecosystems, including wildlife habitat and genetic connectivity within the landscape.

Shifting landscapes: decoupled urban irrigation and greenness patterns during severe drought

Environmental Research Letters (IOP) | June 7th, 2019

Urban outdoor water conservation and efficiency offer high potential for demand-side management, but irrigation, greenness, and climate interlinks must be better underst

Urban outdoor water conservation and efficiency offer high potential for demand-side management, but irrigation, greenness, and climate interlinks must be better understood to design optimal policies. To identify paired transitions during drought, we matched parcel-level water use data from smart, dedicated irrigation meters with high-spatial resolution, multispectral aerial imagery. We examined changes across 72 non-residential parcels using potable or recycled water for large landscape irrigation over four biennial summers (2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016) that encompassed a historic drought in California. We found that despite little change in irrigation levels during the first few years of the drought, parcel greenness deteriorated. Between summers 2010 and 2014, average parcel greenness decreased−61% for potable water irrigators and−56% for recycled water irrigators, providing evidence that vegetation could not reach its vigor from wetter, cooler years as the drought intensified with abnormally high temperatures. Between summers 2014–2016 as drought severity lessened, irrigation rates decreased significantly in line with high drought saliency, but greenness rebounded ubiquitously, on average+110% for potable water irrigators and+62% for recycled water irrigators, demonstrating climate-driven vegetation recovery as evaporation and plant evapotranspiration rates decreased. Transitions were similar for customers with both potable and recycled water; vegetation changes were dominated by the overarching climatic regime. As irrigation cannot always overcome drought conditions, which will become more severe under climate change, to maintain vegetation health, utilities and urban planners should consider the tradeoffs between providing green spaces and water scarcity. This includes evaluating the roles of climate-appropriate landscaping and adaptive reallocation of potable and recycled water resources to enhance water security. By addressing emerging themes in urban water management through analysis of data from forthcoming water metering and aerial imagery technologies, this research provides a unique perspective on water use, greenness, and drought linkages.